The Perfect Storm
by Darmen
Summary: An unexpected tradegy test the limits of Halt's and Will's bond as apprentice and mentor
1. Chapter 1

Halt scowled at the world from under his hood as yet another cursed raindrop splattered on his face, running into his beard. He questioned his thought process earlier this morning when he had decided to set up a training activity for his apprentice in the pouring rain. It must have been the combination of the ungodly hour and lack of caffeine that led him to continue even though a storm front was moving in over Redmont. He had been stalking through the woods leaving as little evidence of his passage as possible. Being a ranger he left a track only another ranger could follow. Reaching a spot he deemed well hidden and far enough away from his cabin he took out a strip of cloth he had put into his pocket earlier this morning. He tied it to the highest branch he could reach, which just so happened to be the lowest branch.

"Damn trees keep getting taller." He growled under his breath and ghosted back to the cabin. His mind was occupied with thoughts of coffee and his favourite armchair. As always, at the back of his mind was his new apprentice Will. He hadn't at first wanted to take on another apprentice but the boy had won his heart, albeit grudgingly. He was quite proud of how well he had progressed in the last few months and was looking forward almost as much as Will to the next ranger meeting when his apprentice would get to show off what he had learned.

Upon reaching his cabin he contemplated waking Will early to send him off on his tracking exercise but the need for caffeine won out.

"Good morning Halt. What are you doing up so early?" Will appeared as bright and cheerful as ever, still in his night cloths, hair tousled from sleep.

"Can you not start a single day without a question?" Halt asked his apprentice,

"Sorry Halt." Will replied still smiling and not looking the least bit sorry. Filling his mug with the already made coffee he took a seat opposite from Halt on his couch.

Halt smiled inwardly at his apprentice and his boundless energy. He wondered briefly how his hair maintained its shape without some sort of paste. It looked as if he had a hedge hog on his head. After taking another sip of coffee Halt explained his plans for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter: 2

Will had left nearly four hours ago and Halt was starting to worry. He was in the stable, brushing Abelard with a soft comb. Abelard was making content horse noises while Tug glared at him indignantly as if asking why he wasn't being brushed.

"Sorry Tug", said Halt, patting him on the nose. "Wills out working on a tracking exercise." Tug stomped his hoof and turned his back to him.

Will should have taken no more than an hour to find his marker; it had only taken him forty minutes creeping through the forest to lay the trail. Though he supposed the storm he had seen looming over Redmont earlier this morning could be slowing him down as it raged outside of his sanctuary. He would have to make sure that the boy got into something warm as soon as he returned. No sense in catching a cold, especially so close to his second gathering.

An almighty crash of thunder shook the wooden stable causing both horses to stomp their feet nervously. Halt unconsciously ducked his head. Even though he would never admit it, especially to Gilian or worse Crowley he had always been bothered by storms. Not scared, just bothered. He did not even have a sad childhood incident to explain away his discomfort. That was just how it was no matter how embarrassing it was for a ranger to be afraid of something so trivial as lightning and thunder.

He patted Abelard's flanks as if to reassure the horse instead of steadying himself. Abelard turned his large head giving him that knowing look.

"I don't know what you are looking at me for." A second later a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by an almighty boom. Halt opened his eyes to find both horses looking at him quizzically. "Stop it. Both of you."

….

Will had tried his best to find Halts marker but the driving ran blurred his vision and obscured the trail. Try as he might he could find no signs of his mentor's passage. He wished he had Tug with him if only for companionship. The life of a ranger was a long one, which he would at some point become accustomed to but for now he was a sixteen year old boy with an insatiable need to talk and more often ask questions. So, with no one talk to, he proceeded to have a conversation with himself.

"Now where could Halt have left the handkerchief?" he waited a moment before answering his own question, "no doubt somewhere difficult to find."

A sudden gust of wind caused the trees around him to creak ominously. Somewhere nearby a branch fell, crashing to the sodden ground below. Will would have, in any other circumstance, returned long before he found himself in the middle of a storm such as this, or at least found reasonable shelter but he loathed to return to the cabin without the object of his mission. He hated to disappoint Halt. These days it seemed to be even easier to get on his nerves, one question too many and he found himself completing some unsavoury chore.

A flash of lightning illuminated the grove of trees he was standing in. by chance a fluttering caught his eye drawing his attention to a low branch. He smiled as he recognized the pattern of the cloth. He strode forward purposefully, shoulders hunched against the weather. Reaching up he ripped it free. He turned in the direction of home and took a step forward. He stopped and glanced around coming to a sudden, unwelcome conclusion. Through the combination and rain and concentration of following quickly disappearing tracks he had lost track of where he was. Somehow he Will, Ranger in training had gotten utterly and completely lost. Halt wasn't going to be happy.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN S**orry it took so long to update but it was spring break and I was away. This one is kind of rambly, I think the next will be as well but i'm trying to show how hard it can be, lost by yourslef. It is scary,I got lost in the woods at a scout camp and thought I was never going to get home. Of course I was ten at the time... and I was lost for all of forty minutes but it seemed like a big deal at the time. Enough of me going on and on. For those of you who actually like my writing, typos and all I give you...

Chapter: 3

Halt had waited long enough. He had faith that his apprentice could handle himself. He was virtually in his own backyard, but he had a bad feeling that the delayed return was caused by some unfortunate event. Try as he might, he could not stop himself from worrying. Somewhere in between the incessant questions and training sessions, Will had won a place in Halt's heart—an honor bestowed on few.

"You're getting soft old man," Halt muttered to himself as he prepared to set out in search of Will.

* * *

><p>As the sun went down, the dark of a storm being replaced by the dark of night, Will remained rooted to the spot. He worked to stifle the panic rising in his chest as he came to the realization that he had absolutely no idea where he was. Someone without the training he had received would probably have continued to wander in circles, convinced that their way out was just around the bend, but Will knew better than that. Chances were he would only get himself even more lost if he kept walking. Better to find shelter, or if he couldn't find any then make his own.<p>

He managed to keep his wits about him and found shelter within a cave. After his first time camping out with Halt he had learned to do a thorough reconnaissance of the area before settling down. One close call with a bear was more than enough for him. Lacking a bed roll he rapped himself in his ranger's cloak, sitting upright at the entrance to the cave. Although his eyes were closed he was well aware of his surroundings, always watchful for potential danger.

* * *

><p>Halt set off following the river, hoping that Will would have the sense to find it and follow it home. While there were few trails in the woods, this river was the only in the forest. Not to mention it passed by both Halt's cabin and castle Redmont.<p>

A tingling feeling overtook Halt's body and when he looked down the hair on his arms was standing upright. He didn't even have time to curse the gods before a bolt of lightning struck the tree on his left. Perhaps it was the worry over his apprentice, the physical toll of the day or maybe he really was getting old, but for whatever reason Halt was just too slow to clear the falling forest giant. Seconds before he was a Ranger, king of the forest. Now he was merely Halt, injured and in dire need of help.

* * *

><p>Will's eyes flew open as a forked bolt of lightning struck a tree no more than a league from him. He had always wondered where the lighting, and the thunder that followed, came from. Back when he was still living in the ward, Jenny—one of his fellow ward mates—had told them that thunderstorms were the result of gods fighting. When he had retold the tale to Halt, the grizzled ranger had only laughed and told him that if he believed in everything he was told, his head would be so full of useless knowledge that he wouldn't be able to tell up from down or right from wrong. As Halt had so politely put it, "Your time would be much better spent doing your chores than daydreaming."<p>

Eventually the fast pace of the day took its toll, forcing his eyelids shut again. Despite his hostile surroundings, he fell into a deep sleep, oblivious of the storm around him.

* * *

><p>Not too far away from Will, Halt was on the ground, the branch of a large tree very recently fallen—felled by lightning—lying heavily across his torso. Blood was still trickling from the gash across his forehead and his left arm was bent in an unnatural angle, painful to even look at. He had been lucky, though he may not have agreed at the time. He lay just outside the boundaries of the river, the same which flowed by his house. A foot or two more and he would have been submerged. His luck, however, was quickly running out. As it continued to rain, the river ran over its banks, swelling to encompass the low lying areas. Already, the water was lapping at the roots of the trees and the man still on the ground. But Halt remained stubbornly unconscious, unaware as a small forest animal scurried by, stopping to sniff at the strange pale creature that covered its home.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I know, I know this took forever. Sorry about that. School and exams and malfunctioning computers got in my way. **

Will waited for the sky to lighten from the black of night to the murky grey of predawn before leaving his temporary home. While the storm had been violently loud, he had managed to catch a few hours sleep here and there. Despite the dampness of both his clothing and his surroundings he was back to his usual cheery mood. Well, as cheery as could be, lost in the woods.

He knew that when he had left Halt's cabin the morning before, the sun had been to his back. It made sense then that he should walk with the sun to his front now. Hopeful that, if he wandered too far and would miss Halts cabin, he hadn't walked far enough to miss Redmont entirely. As he walked he took into account the wildlife, or more accurately the lack thereof.

"Must have been scared off by the storm." Again he spoke out loud as a substitute for human company. He continued his musing as he walked in what he desperately hoped was the right direction

The sun had neared its peak and Will had yet to recognize the area. His stomach turned at the idea of having to spend another night in the forest. Deep inside he knew that it wasn't staying outside that bothered him and neither was it the lack of food, although his rumbling stomach would disagree. No, what was bugging him the most was being alone. He knew that as a Ranger he would always be alone, even in a crowd. The life of a Ranger was a lonely one. But he had grown up in the Ward at Castle Redmont with constant companionship, whether he had wanted it at the moment or not. His first night as an apprentice had been his first night sleeping in a room by himself and he had found it unnerving.

Needless to say he was not looking forward to another night in the woods. His stomach growled loudly again and he imagined that if there had been any wildlife in the area they would have been scared off. He wouldn't mind a nice hot meal either, even if it was Halt's cooking

He let out a whoop when, after pushing through a particularly dense section of wood he suddenly found himself ankle deep in water. His reason for excitement being that there was only one river flowing through Redmont. It also passed no more than a league from the cabin. In fact he bathed in it every week. Halt would always say that wasn't nearly enough, but that was beside the point. In this one moment of discovery he went from being lost, alone and quite a bit scared, not to mention hungry, to literally being on the road home. With a spring in his sodden step and a smile on his face he headed for Halts cabin, for home.


End file.
